Few Questions about Linux

[Nitro89]

I was wondering if Linux is compatible with PC games, how good is the security on it and how to get beryl.

[GMaq]

Hello,

1. Some Games will work with Crossover or Wine (A Linux Program that allows many Windows applications to run on Linux). AFAIK DirectX 10 games aren't supported yet. I'm not a gamer so I can't give you a very accurate answer, Google will tell you a lot more.

2. Security is excellent, no known "in the wild" Viruses at this point in time. Most distros come with a firewall built in and some even include basic Antivirus (not the latest greatest) to help protect networked Windows machines. Most larger distros are constantly updating security apps and features. Also a basic Linux tenet is that no program can be installed without Admin Authorized passwords so that alone is a deterrent.

3. Beryl or Compiz is included in many distros and for Nvidia or ATI cards requires prorietary non-free drivers to be installed to enable OpenGL support and enable Beryl. In my experience most recent Intel chips work OOTB. Most distros provide access to the correct video drivers, or provide applications or scripts to obtain them. This is usually a well covered topic in each distos WiKi or forum.

[disturbed1]

To add to what GMaq has posted.

If you know of a certain game check the wine app data base. http://appdb.winehq.org/ When I used wine, the only game I ever played was CoD2. I didn't beat it, but spent quite a few hours on it, and had zero issues. There is an application called Cedega http://www.transgaming.com/ which makes running and installing Windows games on Linux a bit easier. Not all games will simply just work, and may require a little bit of this or that. Cedega makes it easier for you.

Security - depends on what you mean by this. If question is how soon are patches released when security flaws are found - just about instant. Really depends on which Distro you use. There was a recent Kernel VMSPLICE vulnerability that was patched, and most ditros (RedHat, Fedora, Suse, Ubuntu, Debain, Slackware, Arch, Gentoo.....) had the fix released inside 24 hours. Linux works differently than Windows. If a security flaw is found in Windows, it has to be proven, takes time, has to be patched by a small groups of internal devs, takes time, patch has to be tested, takes time, patch is then finally released, people update. With Linux, since it is open source, any one can work on the code and submit fixes. This means that when a flaw is detected it isn't up to a hand full of devs to fix and patch, but any of the millions of devs can patch and test fixes. But... just because anyone can see and work on the code, it still is tested before it's committed to the source. Generally security flaws are fixed in about half to 1/4 the time it takes Microsoft to patch Windows.

If by security you meant virus, malware, and spyware. As far as I know, there is no spyware nor malware for Linux. There are a handfull of virus. These are generally called root kits. Unlike Windows, Linux needs expressly given root access to install a program system wide. So if you're browsing the net and something pops up input root password, common sense tells you not to do this . Same with software, only install software from trusted sources and you should have no problems. If you want to test out software, you can always install it as a user. This gives the program only access to the user account. Worse case scenario, you'll lose your home folder, but the system is untouched.


Beryl/Compiz requires one of 3 graphics cards for best results. Intel, ATI, nVidia. nVidia cards require the nVidia binary driver from nVidia. I have used beryl with cards as old as an mx400. Not all effects ran smooth, but most of the eye candy worked just fine. ATI has 2 different drivers. The open source driver which works on cards pre x1xxx series, and supports beryl just fine, infact, the open source driver is better than the closed source ATI catalyst driver. The ATI closed source binary driver just recently added beryl support. This works ok, but your millage will vary. If you are using an ati card post x1xxx (HD series) this is your only choice, as the built in Linux graphics driver does not support these cards in any way. There are other open source ATI drivers as well as nVidia drivers, but they are not user ready nor feature complete. The Intel driver is built in and works as good as expected for an integrated chipset. Best results are with the gma945/950 and higher chipsets. i740/i810/i815 but are quite old, and not throughly tested.

Basically, if you want good openGL (games) and beryl support, stick with nVidia, or grab an ATI 800.

If you are deciding to try Linux out, the most important thing to remember, is that Windows is not Linux, and Linux is not Windows. Windows applications require a Windows Operating System, Linux applications require a Linux Operating System. They are not one in the same. You'll never here me complain about how Windows can't support real time multithreading, or how the command line is missing this or that feature, how come I can't get sed to work in windows. In Linux nothing locks up on me, how come Windows keeps freezing. In Linux I used this application called Rhythmbox, it works 100% with everything I have, why can't I use it in Windows, Media Player SUCKS!!! I want Rhythmbox. It's because Windows is not Linux. Just something to keep in mind. I've seen too many people complain about how different Linux is from Windows. Well duh, it's not called Lindows

[freebird73717]

You can also try before you install as most linux distro's install cd also doubles as a live cd.

I'm not a major gamer either but I have tried a couple of games I have and neither worked well in wine. Gaming is the one area where linux needs some work. If you can't live without your games but find a linux distro you like then you can go with a dual boot system which will allow you to choose to boot into linux or windows at startup. I have a dual boot system although to be honest with you I haven't booted into windows in almost a month. Most distros make installing a dual boot system very easy.

Go into this with an open mind and you will get hooked. In the end you will probably be like me and start migrating to linux for good! Have fun and enjoy linux.

[Verlager]

My Linux system integrates well with my Windows rigs. I use XPro to pipe video from my Cable TV box to my SageTV and edit out the commercials in Womble video editor. Then I reboot the Pentium 4 3.0 gHz rig to Linux Mint 4.0 and pipe the resultant mpg files to a Quad Core Linux computer upstairs using NFS shares for i/o. I then graphically access that fast rig with ssh -X 192... etc, and run winff -threads 4 which results in an ffmpeg running at 272%, (Q6600) as reported by Linux "top" command. That takes the load off my little P4 rig as the mpg video files are compressed to 25% of their original size. I can monitor the progress and do other work with zero load while those files are processing. Of course a windows computer can do all that that, too. Just not quite as well, not without a few humps and a sizable cash outlay and software investment.

We still have our windows machines, we're not "true believers" or nut cases. We simply prefer using Linux as an alternative to windows for everyday tasks. It's cheaper and better. I don't have a degree in Computer Science, and have never taken a college course. I'm no genius. I rely on help from more knowledgeable folks here. All they ask is a reasonable level of application and civility. Takes me a while to digest and evaluate the ramifications of the advice given here, though it is generally simple and straightforward. Each new tip or method opens new doors and possibilities for managing video files.

Networking in Windows feels significantly slower and less reliable than in Linux to me. Both windows and Linux have their strong points. windows has many excellent and mature video applications. For everything else, in general, Linux is better. Take an old spare rig and throw Linux on it, take it for a spin. Or throw an old HD into your windows box and try Linux that way. You might be surprised at how stable the Linux install feels. Good luck with whatever you do!

[ronkkrop]

As far as gaming is concerned, I would still stick with an nvidia card. I have an 8800gts, and i get far better performance in linux+wine than i did in windows. Nvidia has historically built good linux drivers for us, and has a long history doing so. As for ATI, we'll have to see. Historically ATI has had no liinux support, except for what could be reverse engineered. AMD just bought them almost 2 years back, and really changed things up over there, such as free/open drivers and I would think that in the next video card generation or 2, ati will have a better Linux driver.